by Bob Orleck
For those who travel Interstate highways, I am certain you are familiar with those super expensive taxpayer-purchased solar message traffic boards that communicate thoughts such as “Click-it or ticket,” “Rest area open-remember to wear a mask,” “Exit to text it” and other mindless cautions that I believe have never saved a life or prevented an accident and may even unsafely distract drivers.
I was traveling I-89 and saw one of these message boards that advised that 62 people had died this year on Vermont Highways and that 59 had died of COVID-19. It puzzled me why the two messages were combined but when I learned of Governor Scott’s prohibition on family gatherings for Thanksgiving, it became clear. Could it be that he was using this message to justify the prohibition on Thanksgiving gatherings with loved ones and friends? He could claim he wanted to keep people at home and away from others so they will not be infected and die from the virus and will also not be killed in a crash on the way to Grandma’s house.
How is it then that his directive only dealt with the virus threat and not the highway threat? Even if you believe the questionable pandemic death count, it is less than the deaths on Vermont roads. Why didn’t he warn us and order us to be sober if we drive? Why did he only used his office to issue an unenforceable authoritarian decree to restrict us from engaging in a wholesome, traditional, seasonal activity with loved ones but did nothing to encourage “sober driving” during this same period? The Vermont State Police have reported that traffic accidents are up this year even though travel is down, so why did he not feel it important to speak of that since more people have died of highway wrecks than of COVID-19?
Can we forget that this is the governor who allowed S.54, legal sale of cannabis, to become law, that will surely increase the use of this addictive, impairing drug, leading to more deaths on the highway? How in the world can he justify such an irresponsible decision? Over and over we hear that one of his main objectives is to “protect the most vulnerable”. He claims to follow the science when he makes decisions but ignored all the medical facts and authority when he took us down the path of cannabis legalization for recreational use. It is a known scientific fact that many brains of our “vulnerable” young people will be irreversibly damaged, and that “vulnerable” people will die and kill others as the result of impaired drivers.
Are not full-term babies also among the most “vulnerable”? Yet he signed into law H.57 that embedded into Vermont statutory law the gruesome right to abort pre-born babies by tearing them apart in their mother’s womb just seconds before entering the world.
What about our “vulnerable” republic? America is just about to be forever transformed into a socialist state through a fraudulent and stolen election if it stands, and yet our wise and caring governor, a supposed Republican no less, cast his ballot for the pawn, Joe Biden, who has been chosen by the left to lead us down the Marxist path and destroy our nation. Is he really that blind and what does that say about our voters who elected him? It is all so obvious and so is the solution.
Instead of prohibiting Thanksgiving gatherings, the governor should join in with some of those who use this day, as they do every day, to give real thanks for a caring God in Heaven, for His provision and for the wonders of the nation He breathed life into almost 250 years ago.
While he would have to violate his man-made rule, I invite him and his family to our humble house to give thanks that we still are a free nation with unalienable rights that neither he nor any other misguided despotic leader can unconstitutionally take away. He needs to get on his knees, ask forgiveness and turn from his wicked ways as we all must do so that our nation will be healed. Governor, please RSVP if you plan to come so we know how many to set the table for.
The author, a Randolph resident, is a retired pharmacist and lawyer. He served as an assistant attorney general under Vermont Attorney General Jerome Diamond.
Let’s not throw the baby out with the bathwater. While I agree with most of Mr. Orleck’s sentiments, as a Conservative, I’m no longer as pessimistic as I was before the election.
I don’t think the cannabis bill will increase drug use over the long term. What increases drug use is the hopelessness created by a stifled crony-capitalist economy. But under the Trump administration, that changed. And I don’t believe that momentum can be turned.
I believe that the H.57 abortion law is too promiscuous. It’s immoral and irresponsible. But that doesn’t mean Vermonters will flock to such ‘gruesome’ behavior as the law may allow. I suspect “The mystic chords of memory will swell when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.” Abraham Lincoln
And yes, the draconian restrictions to our personal freedom, as represented by recent prohibitions to family Thanksgiving, is ill-advised. But it’s also a toothless mandate. It’s ‘for show’. It’s a political CYB statement. Come and get me, Governor. I’m not going to abide by your threats because I understand the exaggeration of the advice you’ve been given.
But I’m not stupid either. I’m not going to invite the Governor to my house simply to display my self-righteous indignation. I’m not going to invite anyone in my family, either, if they present a tangible risk. But that decision is mine. Not the Governor’s. And don’t tell me my disobedience infringes on the freedom and liberty of others. Everyone and anyone has the right to stay away from my house in a truly free society. In fact, they are not invited. That’s my decision.
With regard to the ‘stolen election’. Was there fraud? I suspect so. And I hope the investigation continues despite the apparent election outcome. I will sleep better knowing my suspicions are off-base than not knowing.
But may I be the first to announce that Conservatives have won the 2020 elections, across the board. If anyone doesn’t recognize Joe Biden’s complete U-turn, as he co-opts Trump administration policies as his own, they should get their heads out of the sand. Disingenuous as Biden’s policies may be, the Trump vaccine is about to become the Biden vaccine. Socialism is dead. The extreme progressive left, represented by Bernie Sanders (B.S. personified), Beto, AOC and ‘The Squad’, is about to learn how fickle politics really is. ‘The Squad’ has been used. They are ‘used’. Now they will be cast aside by their Democrat turncoats at DC’s recycling center.
Nancy Pelosi is history too. Not because she isn’t politically astute. Yes, Pelosi will turn on a dime. But she’s out of style in the showroom displaying this new Democrat conservatism. Biden’s cabinet picks, so far, indicate the change in his barometric pressure.
And in Vermont, the Progressives aren’t stupid either. Gone are stalwarts Mitzi Johnson, David Zuckerman and Tim Ashe. Even in Vermont, Progressives are reading the writing on the wall, despite their so-called ‘progressiveness’. And that’s a good thing.
With Covid, remote working, and more internet bandwidth, I think Vermonters are finally going to see School Choice and its resultant lowering of property taxes. We’re finally going to see an increase in the use of inexpensive Hydro Quebec power (Solar and Wind simply can’t cut the mustard).
Yes, it is a Brave New World. And its Conservative, for good reason. But let’s be sure we don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.